New York Writer

Why I Loved How to Rock Braces and Glasses

I recently finished reading How to Rock Braces and Glasses by Meg Haston. I loved it! I originally checked it out of the library because like the main character Kacey Simon I too had braces and [big purple] glasses in middle school. Beyond just the braces and glasses, I found Kacey super-relatable. Both of us have, or have had, a problem with giving people our uncensored opinions and hurting their feelings in the process.

Kacey is honest – sometimes brutally so, which doesn’t win her a lot of sympathy from her friends and classmates, especially when she is condemned to wear braces and glasses.

“I have a boyish figure,” Nessa said tightly. “Kacey said it was chic.”

“And then she e-mailed you a coupon for a push-up bra,” Liv reminded her.

That. Was. A. FAVOR.

One of the reasons I enjoyed Lisi Harrison’s Clique series so much was Massie Block’s honesty and sometimes unintentional humor, and Kacey and Massie both made me laugh with the nicknames they come up with for their acquaintances. Jessica Darling in Sloppy Firsts almost automatically nicknames new people when she meets them. In college there was a boy that my friends and I referred to as simply “Eyebrows”. Throughout the book, Kacey refers to Zander, her future bandmate, as Skinny Jeans (or “Thkinny Jeanth” after she gets her braces).

Like Massie Block, Kacey starts out as the alpha of her group, but her quick downfall shows just how superficial her friendships really were. By exploring new interests and hanging out with different people, Kacey makes a geniune transformation without losing sight of who she is as a person. Ultimately I loved the book because it sends a positive message about acceptance and staying true to yourself – and your friends, too.